Not Every Door Is An Exit — January 4, 2022

Pickle Jars and Garages

Security experts tell us that to protect valuables from burglaries we should consider putting them in very ordinary places and things.

Burglars are in a hurry so they probably won’t look in the refrigerator after all they are not there to eat. Perhaps people should put their jewelry in a pickle jar. Maybe that’s why they call jewelry ‘ice’.

Or maybe people should consider putting valuables in the garage as long as you don’t have valuable tools there, after all burglars are not interested in rakes or garbage cans.

Interesting don’t you think? Something as ordinary as pickle jars and garage items can be called upon to protect things of much greater earthly value.

Compared to the powerful and rich of the world Christians often seem very ordinary and yet to us have been given the responsibility to preserve society including the rich and powerful. That is why Jesus calls us the salt of the earth. The main purpose of salt in the time of Jesus was to preserve food from rotting.

How do we preserve society from rotting? We do so through our love and through our prayers. If we feel frustrated and angry at the condition of our society we should ask ourselves if we have devoted ourselves to love and prayer.

This report reminded me of I Corinthians 1:26–31. “Consider your own call, brothers and sisters, not many were wise by human standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.”

And ultimately the greatest example of the seemingly ordinary protecting those seemingly of much greater value is Jesus Himself.

“Christ Jesus emptied Himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death. Even death on a cross.”

Don’t fret if the world doesn’t recognize you as their hope or appreciate your devotion to the Living God. We don’t seek their validation but offer them God’s salvation.

But as human beings we need encouragement. As Christians we must encourage one another because we can truly understand who we are.

Long live the pickle jar and I love my garage!